55 Surprising Facts About America's Beaches

Think you know all there is to know about America's beaches? Think again. From UFOs and green sand to nude sunbathers and wild horses, the beaches of the United States contain a diversity of attractions almost as varied as its 332 million inhabitants. Here are some of the most unique beach experiences in the country, as well as some lesser-known trivia that will make you look smart at your next happy hour, virtual or otherwise.

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While many people think of California or Florida when thinking of beaches in America, the country's longest coastline is much farther north. Not only is Alaska by far America's largest state (more than twice as large as second-place Texas), it boasts the nation's longest coastline at 33,904 miles. Florida is way behind in second place at 8,436 miles. 

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While shark attacks are exceedingly rare, they happen more in the United States than any other country. And the beach that lays claim to the dubious honor of hosting the most shark attacks in the world is New Smyrna Beach near Daytona, Florida, known as "the world's shark bite capital." In Volusia County, where the beach is located, there have been at least 320 confirmed shark bites since 1882. 

Related: Shark Attacks, "Dry Drowning," and Other Summer Horror Stories

It is perhaps unsurprising that America's first public beach is just 5 miles from downtown Boston in a town named after Paul Revere. But it's true. Revere Beach, in the town of Revere, lays claim to the honor of "America's First Beach." The 3-mile beach was founded in 1896, one year after a rail link to the beach was established along the Boston, Revere Beach, & Lynn Railroad. 

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On the southern tip of the Big Island of Hawaii, Papakolea Beach is one of only four green sand beaches in the world. The sand gets its unique coloring from crystals created by the mineral olivine, which can be found in the surrounding volcanic rock — with the beach itself carved into a 49,000-year-old volcano. 

Related: The Best of Hawaii on a Budget

While nude sunbathing is still not as commonplace or socially acceptable in America as compared with Europe, there are still dozens of beaches in the States where it is legal to strut your stuff in the buff. Haulover Beach near Miami is one of the country's most popular nude beaches, while Black's Beach near San Diego is one of the most beautiful. Just remember to wear sunblock.

In 2019, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore became America's 61st national park when it was renamed Indiana Dunes National Park. Hugging 15 miles of the southern shore of Lake Michigan less than 50 miles from downtown Chicago, the national park boasts more than 50 miles of trails across 15,000 acres. You can even explore the dunes on horseback.

Related: Stunning Photos of Every National Park in America

No, it's not an actual UFO. But the 31-foot oddity known as the "UFO Boat" on the quirky nude beach of Collins Beach near Portland is certainly one of America's more unique beach attractions. Covered in graffiti, the washed-ashore "UFO" is a popular photo-op spot on Sauvie Island, along the Columbia River. 

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Once a thriving vacation community in the Southern California desert about 60 miles from Palm Springs, Bombay Beach is now a rotting corpse of its former self. The beach is on the shores of the eerily beautiful Salton Sea, whose high level of salinity has killed off much of its fish and bird life over the years since the lake was created by an irrigation accident in 1905.

Related: Once Popular Tourist Hotspots That Are Now Totally Abandoned

Just 12 miles off the coast of Southern California at its closest point, Channel Islands National Park is one of America's most underrated destinations. Its farthest and most remote island, San Miguel Island, features stunning beaches but — with the island once used as a former bombing range by the U.S. Navy — you need to sign a waiver before visiting due to the possibility of encountering unexploded land mines. (Want to catch a glimpse of the Channel Islands from the comfort and safety of home? Be sure to check out National Park Webcams Where You Can See the Wilderness from Home.)

While the beaches along Florida's eastern shore get most of the attention (and tourists), Florida's lesser-visited Gulf Coast contains a wealth of natural gems such as Sanibel Island near Fort Myers. The beaches are known for some of the finest shelling in the world, with the "Sanibel Stoop" a popular phrase depicting the hunched-over posture of beachgoers combing the sand for shells.

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We don't know if Mick Jagger was singing about this Maryland beach, but wild horses couldn't drag most visitors away from Assateague Island National Seashore south of Ocean City. The area is most well known for the presence of wild feral horses that freely roam its beach. Wild horses can also be spotted on the beaches of Cumberland Island National Lakeshore in Georgia.

Related: The Best State Park in Every State

The beautiful beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama, across the state line from Florida's more heavily visited Pensacola, are some of the most underrated in America. Yet their profile has been raised in recent years thanks to the presence of the annual Hangout Music Festival, which welcomes a variety of rock acts across several beachfront stages.

While surfing in America originated in Hawaii, the title of "Surf City USA" is claimed by Huntington Beach, California. One of America's most popular beaches known for its terrific year-round surf conditions, Huntington Beach is home to the International Surfing Museum and hosts the annual U.S. Open for Surfing every summer.

While drinking is legal on a number of beaches in America, few are more beautiful than Sand Harbor perched on the shores of picturesque Lake Tahoe. Also known as Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park, this gorgeous stretch of paradise is known for its crystal clear waters shimmering against a glorious backdrop of alpine trees and mountains. Crucially, you can also buy booze from a concessionaire just off the beach.

As if the wild coastal landscape along California's Highway 1 near Big Sur wasn't beautiful enough, you can also find a state park that boasts the extremely rare sight of a waterfall flowing directly into the ocean. At Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, the 80-foot McWay Falls flowing into the Pacific Ocean makes for one of the most stunning natural vistas in America.

Related: Where to Find Waterfalls in All 50 States 

Welcoming more than 19 million visitors a year, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is the most-visited beach destination in America. Los Angeles' Venice Beach comes in second place at 16 million visitors a year, with Miami's world-famous South Beach in third place at 15 million visitors a year. The Myrtle Beach area, known as the Grand Strand, encompasses 14 communities and 60 miles of beach along the South Carolina coast.

Related: The Best Beaches on the East Coast 

Along the rugged northern Oregon coast, Ecola State Park is easily one of the most beautiful state parks in America. Known for its unique sea stacks that punctuate the cinematic landscape, the area has been chosen as a filming location for several movies, including "The Goonies," "Point Break," and "Twilight."

Related: 50 Iconic Movie Locations You Have to See 

One of America's most iconic beaches, Venice Beach in Los Angeles is known for its wonderfully offbeat collection of human beings who frequent its always-eclectic boardwalk. But what might be even more recognizable is its world-famous Muscle Beach, where Arnold Schwarzenegger was once a regular. In recent decades, the outdoor fitness facility has helped popularize weightlifting in America.

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Within Big Talbot Island State Park near Jacksonville, Florida, Boneyard Beach is known for its vast accumulation of bleached oak tree skeletons that can be found all over its sand. The beach is also home to a number of tree-sized fossils recently discovered by park archaeologists.

One of the most stunningly unique beaches in all of America owes much of its fame to trash. In Northern California's Mendocino County near Fort Bragg, MacKerricher State Park was once the site of a garbage dump. Today it is home to the iconic Glass Beach, where colorful glass fragments from broken bottles dot its one-of-a-kind landscape. 

On the Hawaiian island of Maui near Haleakala National Park, Kaihalulu Beach is often known by another name: Red Sand Beach. As one of few red sand beaches in the world, the sand gets its color from the rich iron deposits in the surrounding hills. The beach is remote and laid-back, with many considering it clothing optional.

North of Green Bay on the remote Washington Island in Door County, Wisconsin, you'll find a beautiful beach. But you won't find sand. Instead, you'll find the shores of Schoolhouse Beach populated by smooth limestone rocks, one of only five beaches like it in the world. As much as you may be tempted, don't try to take a souvenir rock with you: it's illegal.

On some beaches, you can find a guy with an acoustic guitar. At Jones Beach on New York's Long Island, you can find the full-service Jones Beach Amphitheater. Recently renamed Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, the Live Nation-operated venue welcomes major touring acts each summer in a spectacular setting overlooking the water from the popular Jones Beach. Several shows are already scheduled for this year.

When it comes to beaches in America, Michigan is often overlooked. But it shouldn't be. With 3,228 miles of coastline, the Wolverine State boasts the longest freshwater coastline in the country thanks to its shared border with four of the five Great Lakes. The state is also home to some of the most stunning beaches in the country, including Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

About 30 miles north of Boston in the town Manchester-by-the-Sea, Singing Beach is one of America's more curious beach attractions. While the beach doesn't exactly sing as the name suggests, the sand does often emit a notable squeaking sound when stepped on dry during the right conditions. The sound is believed to be caused by friction between grains of sand.

While black sand beaches are not a terribly uncommon sight in Hawaii and Alaska, they are rare on the U.S. mainland. Black Sands Beach in Shelter Cove, California, is a dramatically gorgeous beach hidden within the state's often overlooked Lost Coast, which is not accessible via any major roads.

Near the northern terminus of the iconic Highway 1, beach seekers will find a most unusual sight at Bowling Ball Beach in Point Arena, California. at the northern edge of Schooner Gulch State Beach, the beach is named for the giant bowling ball-shaped rocks that can be seen off its coastline at low tide.

In a town known as "The Shark Tooth Capital of the World," it makes sense that you can find shark teeth on its beaches. And one of the most popular spots to dig up the remains of fossilized shark teeth is Caspersen Beach in Venice, Florida. The town's location makes it an ideal end point for prehistoric shark teeth washing onto shore.

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About 70 miles east of Key West, beach seekers will find one of the most spectacular of all American parks: Dry Tortugas National Park. The park is home to seven islands including the iconic Fort Jefferson, one of the largest forts in America, which is made up of more than 16 million bricks. Much of the fort is surrounded by pristine beach and stunning crystal clear Caribbean-style waters.

Related: Bucket-List Experiences in America's National Parks

Laguna Beach, California, is renowned for hosting some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Yet its most unique beachfront attraction is the Pirate Tower of Victoria Beach, a mind-blowing sight carved into the bluffs. Also known as "La Tour" (French for tower), the 60-foot castle-styled structure was built in 1926 and today is a quintessential Southern California Instagram backdrop.

Within the stunning Olympic National Park near the westernmost point of the continental U.S., Cape Alava is a remote wilderness of rugged beaches, unspoiled forests, and rocks that contain an unusual beach sight: ancient petroglyphs. Dating back to roughly 10,000 to 14,000 BC, the petroglyphs can be found in coastal areas of the cape such as Wedding Rocks.

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Northern California's Redwood National Park is of course known for its namesake trees, the tallest and some of the oldest on Earth. But just a mile from its shady redwood forests, visitors will discover the hidden gem of Enderts Beach. Stop by for sunset, play around in its tidepools, or just marvel at the magnificent views all around.

Charleston, South Carolina, is adored for its chef-driven food scene and some of the best-preserved historic colonial architecture in America. But the city is also home to a number of gorgeous beaches such as Folly Beach, affectionately known as "The Edge of America." The beach is home to an iconic pier, which is currently being rebuilt.

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Not to be confused with nearby Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Pfeiffer Beach in Los Padres National Forest near Big Sur hides a most unusual sight for beachcombers: purple sand. At the end of an unmarked road, this easy-to-miss spot gets its purplish hue from manganese minerals in the surrounding cliffs. The purple coloring is not always visible and best viewed at sunset just after it rains.

In the Siuslaw National Forest along the central Oregon coast, Cape Perpetua Scenic Area is a jaw-dropping forested wonderland famous for an enormous natural sinkhole called Thor's Well. Best viewed during high tide, the mysterious hole seems to swallow up large volumes of seawater that crashes upon its shore.

Related: Weird Tourist Attractions Across America 

On the border of Orange Beach, Alabama, and Perdido Key, Florida, the Flora-Bama Lounge is a legendary beach bar honky-tonk with five stages of live music and a notorious frozen cocktail known as the Bushwacker. The raucous bar hosts numerous events throughout the year, including the famous Mullet Toss fish-throwing contest.

Related: Historic Dive Bars Across the Country 

A beach isn't the first place you'd expect to find a mailbox. But at Sunset Beach on North Carolina's Bird Island, you will find just that. Known as the Kindred Spirit Mailbox, the mailbox has been collecting letters from locals and visitors for decades. According to legend, handwritten letters from locals even helped stop a planned development on the pristine island.

Related: Historic and Unusual Post Offices Across America

New England's tallest lighthouse is 6 miles off the coast of Maine, but that's not the most interesting fact about Boon Island. Like something out of a horror novel from Maine native Stephen King, a British ship wrecked on the island in 1710 where it stranded a crew of 14. After four of the crew died, the remaining 10 reportedly ate their remains to stay alive until they were rescued.

Related: Spectacular Lighthouses to See Across America 

Malibu's Point Dume State Beach is easily one of the most beautiful beaches in America … and one of its most cinematic. Not only does the gorgeous rock bluff at the end of the beach make a great spot for whale watching; it was the filming location for the 1968 classic "Planet of the Apes" and its famous scale replica of the Statue of Liberty buried in the sand.

Most beaches in Hawaii are extremely welcoming to outsiders. The beaches of Niihau are a different story. Known as "The Forbidden Isle," the state's westernmost island is a remote, privately owned enclave that has been closed to tourism for much of its history to protect the history and customs of its native peoples. In recent years, however, tourism has been allowed in limited numbers.

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Chicago may be known for deep-dish pizza and Michael Jordan, but America's third-largest city also quietly hides some of the most unique beaches in America. With many of its Lake Michigan beaches just steps from the city's urban core, it looks as if some of the downtown high-rises come close to even touching the sand. On the city's North Side, Montrose Beach includes birding trails and sand dunes. 

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If you thought native fire dancing was a thing of the past, you clearly haven't been to Marco Island. The popular Florida family vacation destination is world-renowned for its white sand beaches and gorgeous sunsets off the Gulf Coast, but the sand outside the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort is also where you can find nightly fire shows performed on the beach by hotel entertainers.

While many beachgoers look for quiet and serenity when seeking out the ideal beachside destination, others look for the exact opposite. And several U.S. beaches offer full-scale amusement parks for those in search of some adrenaline-pumping action. From the Jersey Shore to California's Santa Monica Pier, American beachgoers are rarely lacking in old-school amusements.

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In a country as in love with the automobile as America, it is perhaps unsurprising that you can drive a car on many of its beaches. Hard-partying Daytona Beach is likely its most famous example, but auto access is also allowed on a number of additional beaches from South Padre Island, Texas, to the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Just be sure to gas up first. 

Related: Epic Off-Road Adventures Across the U.S. and Canada

New Hampshire may not be the first state that comes to mind when you think of beaches, but the Granite State does contain a number of lovely beaches along its short 18-mile seacoast. Hampton Beach State Park is the most popular, with a number of additional state park beaches dotted along the coast from approximately Hampton to Portsmouth.

No doubt most beach seekers have heard of (and likely visited) Miami's world-famous South Beach. In addition to the beautiful people and raging dance clubs, South Beach is also home to the annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival, one of America's largest and most important culinary events. The event takes place at several locations across Miami Beach, including on the beach itself.

There are 30 states with coastline, with 23 bordering the ocean and eight bordering the Great Lakes. With the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Lake Ontario on the other, New York is the only state with beaches that line both. While the state is home to a number of famous ocean beaches in places such as The Hamptons and Fire Island, the lake side of the state boasts summer staples such as Ontario Beach.

Buying a home on the beach is never cheap, but buying a home in Malibu is on a whole other level. For a median home price of $4 million, you too can live with the rich and famous in this gorgeous coastal enclave north of Los Angeles. Top beaches in the city include El Matador, Zuma, and Point Dume.

Related: Most Expensive Beachfront Properties 

Some 7,935 miles west of Washington, D.C., Guam is the farthest territory from the mainland under U.S. jurisdiction. On the western side of the island, Salinas Beach in the town of Agat appears to be Guam's farthest beach from the mainland. By comparison, Beijing, China, is roughly 1,000 miles closer to the U.S. capital.

In the Ocean Cape Area of Alaska near the town of Yakutat, beachgoers will find a strange metallic-hued beach that also makes an excellent surfing area. The beach is near Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, with gray-colored beaches not an uncommon sight along the Gulf of Alaska. The color is believed to be caused by the friction between the area's strong waves and extremely rocky waters.

Related: Historic National Park Photos for Vintage Views

The extremely remote Aleutian Islands off of Alaska's west coast are where you can find the last sunset in America, as everything west of the sparsely populated island chain lies west of the International Date Line. The stunningly beautiful and wild Kuluk Beach on Adak Island appears to be the westernmost beach in the island chain, meaning you can probably have America's last sunset all to yourself.

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While the 70-mile Padre Island National Seashore is technically longer, the 35-mile Virginia Beach is the longest uninterrupted single beach in the U.S. (and seventh-longest in the world.) It is also listed as the world's "longest pleasure beach" by the Guinness Book of World Records. This despite the fact that the 28-mile Long Beach Peninsula in Washington state claims to be the longest beach in the U.S. — or at least the longest driveable one.

Tucked along the St. Lawrence River in New York's Thousand Island Chain near the Canadian border, Hub Island is believed to be the smallest island in the U.S. at around 3,300 square feet. Also known as Just Enough Room Island, the island consists of a private home that takes up most of the island as well as a small beach outside the front door.

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Local California communities spend roughly $428 million a year to keep trash and plastic out of waterways that could pollute the ocean and its beaches. A reported 95 communities around the state, ranging in size from 700 residents to 4 million, spend around $10.71 per resident on litter management and debris reduction.

Beaches are a large driver of the U.S. economy, with research in 2008 that around 180 million Americans making an estimated 2 billion trips to the beach each year. It is estimated that coastal states bring in around 85% of U.S. tourism revenue, contributing more than $320 billion to the annual economy. By comparison, this is more than 25 times the revenue brought in by U.S. national parks with twice the visitation to U.S. beaches versus national parks.